Interswitch Resurrects Plans To List At The Stock Market In London

Interswitch, a Nigeria-based payments firm that is owned 60.0 percent by Helios Investment Partners, has resurrected plans for a stock-market listing in London and Lagos.

The company has hired advisors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and Standard Bank Group Ltd to resurrect plans for a stock-market listing in London and Lagos later this year.

According to Reuters, the value of the financial technology company is speculated to be between USD 1.3 billion to USD 1.5 billion.

Interswitch had earlier plans to list in 2016, however, this was thwarted after the price of crude oil fell drastically, causing a contraction in Nigeria’s economy, which resulted in reduced payments between companies, and consequently reduced revenues for payment-services providers.

Other African companies that have expressed interest in listing in foreign countries include; Bayport Management Limited, a Mauritius-based financial services group, which announced, on June 2019, it’s also considering a share sale.

Seen several listings by major African and Middle Eastern technology companies in other countries include:

• Jumia Technologies AG, listed in New York earlier this year, in April, and,
• Dubai-based payments firm, Network International Holdings Plc went public in London also in April.

The dual listing in London and Nigeria echoes that of Airtel Africa Plc, the wireless carrier that spun off from Indian parent Bharti Airtel Limited in June 2019 which enabled them to raise USD 750.0 million through its listing on the London bourse.

Based on their initial plans for the delayed listing in 2016, Interswitch aimed to raise about USD 1.0 billion to facilitate potential exits by the company’s private equity investors.

Ultimately, the transaction will have numerous advantages for the company, among them:

• It will give the company access to a larger pool of investors,
• It enables a company to diversify its capital-raising activities and reduces reliance on its domestic market
• It improves a company’s share liquidity since it is traded in more than one market.